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The Toronto Maple Leafs began their two-game road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. The game was notable for the Leafs hitting five goal posts, enforcer Ryan Reaves getting bested by Flyer pugilist Nick Deslauriers and not returning due to a puffy eye, and the club falling behind 3-0 after 40 minutes, before staging a third-period rally and nearly tying the game late in regulation.
William Nylander, Tyler Bertuzzi, and John Tavares scored in the furious third, and Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in his second straight loss, but head coach Sheldon Keefe considered it a poor effort overall.
“We dug ourselves a hole. It is amazing how, when you do that, all of a sudden, the luck doesn’t go your way.” Keefe said. “I didn’t like anybody tonight. Forwards, defense, or goaltending, I didn’t like anybody.”
While the overall effort of the club was poor until the third, there continue to be areas of concern that need to be addressed between now and the end of the regular season. Joseph Woll (who will be the starter on Wednesday in Washington) has gone four games in between starts after alternating with Samsonov since coming off the injured list.
The Leafs are not playing for anything at this point, locked into third place in the Atlantic and waiting to find out who they will face in the first round, so both Woll and Samsonov should be getting regular work, with a couple of starts thrown in for Martin Jones to keep him sharp.
Defensively, the game last night should be the last time that TJ Brodie is partnered with Morgan Rielly and playing the right side. Brodie has been good overall during his four-year tenure in Toronto, but his play has fallen off this season, especially on his off-side in a matchup role. The 33-year-old was on the ice with Rielly for the Flyers two second-period goals and played more than 21 minutes.
While Brodie is still serviceable, and might still be good enough to bring back next season at a lower salary, his days as a top pairing blueliner are over with, and it appears that he is now a liability on the right side.
While Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson are solid veterans and good depth additions, the Leafs have a collection of excellent bottom-pairing blueliners and are at least one top-four blueliner short going into the playoffs. It has not been missed that Toronto paid more for Lyubushkin and Edmundson to have a third team retain salary because of their messy cap situation, while Tampa Bay added a top-four righty in Matt Dumba for a fifth-round pick in 2027.
At this point, the remaining games should have Lyubushkin written down in indelible marker on the whiteboard next to Rielly’s name and should be used as an open competition to see what the best combination of Timothy Liljegren, Simon Benoit, Jake McCabe, and Edmundson works together on the second pairing.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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